Just a few more complaints, I promise.

Finals are coming and I don't want to study. Why, may I ask, do so many professors base their entire semester grade on one test? That makes me obsess even more than usual.

All I really want to do is enjoy the weather. It is gorgeous outside. And, after a small investment, my family is now the proud owner of an interim grill.

Paul and Mom cleaned off the fancy gas grill at the end of last year. This was because:

• Dad thinks grills do not need to be cleaned after cooking. This means that the nasty, charred remains of every meal he cooks on our grill remains there until it reaches a state in which it is too charred to cling to the grill. Then, it either falls into the flame and starts a small fire, or it affixes itself to the food we consume. Can you say gross?
• Dad also believes that, since grilling takes place outside, it means grills do not need any kind of care and may be left outside, rain or shine, all year long.

After noticing the pathetic state of the grill and knowing her only daughter was inches away from swearing off barbecue altogether, Mom and Paul began to scrub.

However, when they removed the top to clean the inner workings, they found that the heat source dissolved into rusty sand. Dad killed the grill.

All last year, we had no barbecue. It was miserable.

Yesterday, that changed when Mom and I bought a dinky little charcoal grill that was most likely designed for tailgating. We, however are using it to both take the place of the big grill and to guilt Dad into drilling a few tiny holes into the gas grill, rendering Paul able to install the replacement heat source. This five minute task has taken nearly a year for Dad to complete so far.

I just finished the marinade for the veggie kabobs I plan to contribute to dinner tonight. It is only three thirty and I already want dinner just so I can have an excuse to start cooking. Maybe I'll just cut up the pepper and onion...